Hiring subsidies are decided at the entrance

Some hiring subsidies require that the person be hired through a referral from Hello Work or a registered placement business. Hire directly through a job board, and ineligibility can be locked in at that moment — the hiring route cannot be changed afterwards. We set out the order of checks to run before the posting goes out. No amounts are quoted; schemes change yearly.

In short: some hiring-related subsidies require that the person be hired through a referral from Hello Work or a registered employment placement business (for example, the Specified Job Seeker Employment Development Subsidy (特定求職者雇用開発助成金)). Hire directly through a job board, and ineligibility can be locked in at that moment. You cannot go back after the hire — hiring subsidies are decided at the entrance.

This page is for owners and back-office staff about to hire. Because subsidy amounts and requirements are revised every fiscal year (and mid-year), this article quotes no amounts; individual requirements are always checked against the latest payment guidelines at application time.

Why is it too late after the hire?

Most subsidy requirements concern what you did — but hiring subsidies include a requirement about the route by which you hired, and that cannot be changed afterwards.

For example, the Specified Job Seeker Employment Development Subsidy (Specified Difficult-to-Employ Persons course) requires, among other things, that the eligible person be hired through a referral from Hello Work or a registered private placement business (per Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare materials, viewed 14 August 2026). Hire the same person via a job board or direct application, and this requirement cannot be met. Realising after the hiring date changes nothing — the route cannot be rewritten retroactively. That is what "decided at the entrance" means.

If you are aiming for subsidies, the first contract form decides covered the post-joining conversion entrance (contract form). This article covers the step before it — the recruiting-route entrance. Neither entrance can be re-entered once passed.

What changes when you go through Hello Work?

The essence is that a record of the referral exists. A Hello Work referral is verifiable in itself; with a private placement business, the referral must come from a business that has filed the subsidy-handling notification with the Labour Bureau, and a referral certificate is needed (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, "Placement businesses handling employment-related subsidies", viewed 14 August 2026).

So even "via an agency" splits: whether that agency has filed the handling notification can change the outcome. It is a single question worth asking before signing with any agency.

Which subsidies matter at hiring time?

Names only — amounts and details belong to the payment guidelines.

Scene	Examples of subsidies that can be involved
Hiring older workers, persons with disabilities, single mothers, and other specified groups	Specified Job Seeker Employment Development Subsidy (Specified Difficult-to-Employ Persons course and others; referral requirement applies)
Bringing someone in on a fixed term and converting to regular employment	Career-Up Subsidy (regular-conversion course; the entrance is the contract form — see the companion article)

Which requirements (route, eligible persons, employment form, wages) attach to which course is governed by the fiscal year's payment guidelines. Courses are merged and abolished under unchanged names; judging from an old leaflet is dangerous.

When, and whom, do you consult?

Before the posting goes out. The order:

Decide the profile you want to hire (this reveals the eligible-person categories)
Check which subsidies could apply, and their referral requirements (this office)
Choose the route — a Hello Work posting, or an agency with the handling notification on file
Put the posting's working conditions and the offer documents in order
Hire and apply

Run this in reverse — "we've already hired; is there a subsidy?" — and the options have already narrowed sharply.

What can 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 do?

四葉社会保険労務士事務所, in Kohinata, Bunkyo City, takes on — within recruitment and hiring support — the subsidy entrance design at the planning stage (referral requirements, contract form) and the application for employment-related subsidies. Consultation is free of charge. Fees are in the fee schedule. "Will this way of hiring cause trouble later?" is a perfectly good question to bring on its own.

Whom to consult

Candidate referral itself belongs to Hello Work or licensed placement businesses (this office does not handle introduction or placement, and no referral fees change hands — In hiring, what can a shakai hoken roumushi do for you?). Tax goes to a tax accountant, residence status to 四葉行政書士事務所 (a separate business from this office, engaged under a separate contract), contentious matters to an attorney.

Frequently asked questions

Q. A good candidate applied through a job site. Can we still use a subsidy?
A. Subsidies whose requirement is a referral-based hire cannot be used for a direct application. But not all hiring subsidies carry the referral requirement — schemes whose entrance is post-joining conversion (such as the Career-Up Subsidy) may still leave a path. Consult before fixing the hiring date.

Q. Does any agency qualify?
A. No. With a private placement business, the referral must come from one that has filed the employment-subsidy handling notification with the Labour Bureau (per the Ministry's published materials). Before contracting, confirm whether the agency has filed it.

Q. How much are the subsidies?
A. This article does not say. Amounts and requirements are revised each fiscal year and sometimes mid-year. At consultation we identify the courses that could apply and their amounts against the latest payment guidelines.

Q. Can we ask you to handle only the application?
A. We take on employment-related subsidy applications. But for hiring subsidies, eligibility is often already decided by the pre-hire route and contract form — starting at the application stage can be too late. Consult, wherever possible, before the posting goes out.

Sources for this article

The referral requirement of the Specified Job Seeker Employment Development Subsidy (Specified Difficult-to-Employ Persons course) — Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (viewed 14 August 2026)
The handling notification for private placement businesses — Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, "Placement businesses handling employment-related subsidies" (viewed 14 August 2026)
Employment placement and its licensing — Employment Security Act (職業安定法, Act No. 141 of 1947), Article 4, paragraph 1 and Article 30, paragraph 1 (confirmed on e-Gov on 14 August 2026)
Subsidy names, courses, requirements and amounts change. Always check the latest payment guidelines at application. This article quotes no amounts

This article is general information; eligibility in an individual case follows the payment guidelines and the facts. Judgments that fit your particular circumstances are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant), Gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist), Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).